Arkansas rice acres planted drop to lowest level in 50 years

Rice, one of the Natural State’s signature crops, has taken a massive acreage dip this growing season and if a plethora of dynamics don’t change, that dip could become permanent. Arkansas rice acres have dropped this year to their lowest levels in 50 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The state has 851,000 acres planted, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Jarrod Hardke, rice extension agronomist, told Talk Business & Politics the bleak outlook for this year’s rice crop might extend to the next growing season and beyond. “Total rice acres in the state came up short of the 1 million acres in the March intentions,” he said. “The total dipped to 851,000 acres, the lowest acreage since the age of disco. We had 840,000 to 850,000 acres in ’76 and ’77. For those who didn’t book inputs earlier this year, we wondered if the price spikes in fertilizer and fuel would have some impact on corn and rice acres. Based on the Acreage ...